Heals All Wounds
by Silent Hunter
Summary: Set in the future: Michael will learn that sometimes, in order to figure out where you're going, you have to take a closer look at where you came from. ON HIATUS. Might be rewritten.
1. Broken Promises

Disclaimer: I don't, nor have I ever owned or won in card game the best-selling series: _Animorphs_.

A/N: I'm editing my other stories, but for now here's a new one. I can't promise how often I'll update but I'm working on chapter two now…I'll try to update soon.

_Prologue_

It used to hurt to see her sad, or scared, or in pain, but now it hurt to see her feeling any type of emotion. If she was happy and smiling that beautiful smile of hers, it wasn't because of him. If she was flirting or being the loving and caring person she was she wasn't with him. There _he_ was kissing her and holding her close. There _he_ was comforting her and wiping the tears from her face.

_"AHHH!"___

The man screamed at the TV for the millionth time. It was depressing to watch your own funeral. What made the situation even more absurd was that he taping it…_taping it_ as if it were a football game!

And yet…and yet there was something poetic about all this. He grabbed a napkin from the take-out bag and began jotting down the opening lines to his script:

_Darkness.__ All we see is darkness…fade to the pinkish gray of dawn. Cut to the line of pallbearers carrying his casket. It is the beginning of a new day and the end of his life. Fade to black. Roll opening credits._

* * *

Chapter One

**Broken Promises**

"I promise everything will be alright, we just need- Michael? Are you listening to me?" I slid the earphones off my head and let them rest on my neck.

"What did you say?"

"I guess that's a no…never mind, eat your breakfast before it gets cold."

"I'm not hungry."

"You should eat something."

_"I'm not hungry." _ She just stared, jaw clenched and holding her fork in midair; halfway between the plate and her mouth. She looked like she wanted to say something but she wouldn't. I stood up and checked my pockets: _ID, house keys, and key to my bike lock_. As I walked pass the chair she grabbed my hand.

"I don't want to be late for school mom, "I said, yanking it away.

* * *

My legs pumped in a rhythmic motion with the pedals until they couldn't keep up anymore, then I stretched them out towards the front wheel and coasted down the empty street. I was only person school age within a five mile radius, which sucked because the quiet left too much room for my thoughts.

I thought about the jerk I had for a father who got bored with his wife and kid and decided to leave to go find someone more…_fun_._ So much for 'till death do us part'._ I thought about the push-over I had for a mother who would let her own son treat her like dirt. I thought about-

_"HEY KID!"_ The driver leaned on his horn and made a sharp ninety-degree turn so that I slammed into the passenger door instead of being gutted by his hood ornament.

"Jesus! Are you alright?" The guy was standing over me. He looked rich, wearing a three-piece suit with his black hair slicked back. "Are you alright," he repeated lifting my ten-speed off the ground and holding out a hand for me.

"Uh…I think so." I let his hand hang in the air and got up on my own. He glanced at my bag.

"Do you need a ride to school?"

"No," I laughed "don't worry, I won't sue. I'm fine, you're fine, my bike's fine. It's all good."

"Okay you _feel_ fine but- hey wait!" I hopped on my bike and took off. I really didn't have the time for this. I was definitely going to be late now. But what else was new?

* * *

"In the year 2000 the Animorphs-EXUSE ME am I boring you?" I jumped at the change in her voice.

"Not at all Ms. Arno," I replied, wiping the drool off my face.

"This is the tenth or eleventh time you've come late to my class this month…the least you could do is pay attention."

"I'm sorry."

"Why don't _you _read the chapter Michael?" She smirked.

"I'd be delighted," I said sarcastically, giving her a lopsided grin. _I hate sitting in the front…_ I looked down at my book. It wasn't even open.

"Um…what page are we on again?"

"Five hundred seventy-six."

"Right, okay uh…_In the year 2000 the Animorphs won the war against the yeerks after nearly four years of fighting. As you have read in previous chapters, their fight began in 1996, when they were thirteen years old. The six Animorphs (Jacob Berenson, Rachel Berenson-Williams, Tobias Fangor, Cassandra Harrison, Marco Santiago and Aximilli Esgarrouth Isthill) endured many hardships during their time as involuntary soldiers, but none harder than the final moments of the war that would decide the fate of both the human and alien races-"_

BRRINNNGG!

_Saved by the bell._ "Read this chapter tonight for homework, class dismissed- Michael, wait a minute." I walked over to her desk, ignoring the snickers and comments of my classmates.

"Yes Ms. Arno?"

"Do you have your position paper on world war two?"

"Um…see the thing about that is-"

"Save your excuses for some other teacher. I gave you the weekend to finish that paper, which is more than generous of me because I hardly ever give extensions. You said you would have it done and you don't. I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you a zero. You can sit in Mr. Hung's room doing worksheets during our debate tomorrow."

"But Ms.-"

"I'm not writing you a note for second period Michael, leave or you'll be late."

"Yeah, sure."

I walked out of her classroom, kicking the trashcan as I went. She yelled something, but I didn't hear her, I was already turning the volume on my CD player up.

**Okay, that was chapter one of, yet again, another story. I'm taking all my other stories down except the revised version of _The Way Things Used to Be_ which I will be updating by the end of this week (thanks to a surprising review from Natalie :-] ****). **


	2. Cat and Mouse

Chapter Two

**Cat and Mouse**

I was about to turn down the main hallway when a hand gripped my shoulder. I slid my earphones off with my right hand, and curled my left hand into a fist, ready to turn and punch whoever it was. I'd had too many people pick fights with me for no reason. I wasn't going to be caught off guard.

"Not even a month into the school year…" She reached out for my Discman. I relaxed.

"Hand over the CD player." I turned off the power, took out the CD and batteries, yanked out the earphone plug, and set the player in her outstretched hand.

"Can I go now? I'm already late."

"Very funny, now give me the rest of it."

"First of all, you said the CD player, and that's what I gave you. Second, it's bad enough the CD player was $59.99. I'm not about to give you the fifteen dollar headphones, twenty dollar CD, and batteries that I had to pay a dollar a piece for at the corner store because the only other store is the supermarket- and that's a forty-five minute_ drive _from where I live."

She looked as if what I'd said didn't quite make sense. And I guess it's a principal defense mechanism or something, but the next words out of her mouth were: "My office…now." I swear she sounded just like Dr. Mitchell at my other high school and Dr. Jacoby in Middle school and even Mr. Pellegrino in Elementary. It was that same condescending, impatient, annoying voice. _This is going to be a long day._

* * *

Her office was plain for the most part. The desk was clean; all her papers were stacked neatly in a tray, her laptop and the phone were lined up perfectly with the edge of the desk on the other side. That plus a puke-green plastic chair facing opposite of her leather one on the other side of the desk, a gray four-drawer filing cabinet, and an overcrowded dusty bookcase were the only pieces of furniture in the large room.

"Sit." She was standing in front of the bookcase with her arms folded.

"I prefer to stand."

"I didn't ask you what you wanted."

"You know, this room is actually bigger than my English classroom", I said, dismissing her comment. "And I bet that chair cost more than the textbooks we use…is that what you spent our grant from the school district on?"

"No, I-" She decided that she didn't have to answer to a child. "You're making trouble for yourself."

"Technically I'm already in trouble if I'm in your office. What I'm_ really _doing is getting myself out of second period… maybe even the first half of third period. And I think if I play my cards right I might just get suspended."

"…Sit down and tell me your name."

Suddenly I was five again.

_"Michael, sit down!" __I ran up the steps. Suddenly I was the fastest person on Earth. I dove into my room and put a chair under the doorknob so he couldn't open it right away. After that I went into the second phase of my plan. "Michael! Open this door!" He pounded on the door and finally managed to force his way in. A formidable opponent, but he made one fatal mistake…he forgot that this was my room. There was a loud crash as he hit the floor, tangled up in fishing line from his tackle box while I pelted him with foam darts. That would teach him to try and make me eat lima beans._ Suddenly…

I was invincible.

I took my bag off and plopped down in the seat. Then I slid the tray of papers onto the floor with the side of my shoe to make room for my feet. "Okay, okay, I'll play your little game."

Her eyes burned a path from my pupils to the back of my skull.

"A game…yes, that's exactly what this is…it's a matching game. I'm going to match the picture on your file to your face, (she stepped over the papers and turned on her laptop) and every minute I spend looking for your file is another minute added to your detention before school tomorrow- that is, unless you want to _tell_ me your name…"

I could tell by her expression that she hadn't really intended to search the entire system for my picture. And I hadn't intended on waking up any earlier than necessary tomorrow morning, but then I realized that she didn't know what grade I was in, and would waste time looking through 500 freshmen instead of fifteen new sophomores.

"Take your time sweetheart." _Pissing off the principal **and **getting out of classes…definitely worth a morning detention._


	3. Who's Chasing Who?

The first few days had gone okay, but now he was bored all the time, lack of social interaction was starting to get to him. His body was reacting to the situation in strange ways; one week he'd be so tired that he could barely get out of bed to pee, the next he would sit staring at the wall because he couldn't fall asleep. Today he'd spent the entire morning and afternoon cramming food in his mouth to try to sooth the hunger pains in stomach, and now it seemed as though he would spend the entire night bowing down to the porcelain god. The man grabbed the roll of toilet paper and wiped his face, then tore off a longer piece to write on:

_The camera is focused on a blue tile, and then zooms out to reveal a pale man with graying hair, slumped over a toilet. He stands up, holding on the sink for support and looks at himself in the mirror. "In a few days they'll have a body to put in the casket."_

Chapter Three

**Who's Chasing Who?**

"You must think I'm stupid." She leaned back in her chair and smiled.

"The thought crossed my mind."

"I'm sure it did."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I know your type."

"My _type_…"

"Yes. I see people like you in here everyday…in fact; the only people that end up in that chair _are_ the arrogant, narcissistic, smart mouthed students who think they're above the law."

"Oh, so you're _the law_ oooo I'm scared now."

"You should be…_Michael_."

"How-"

"How could I not recognize the infamous 'Bad Boy'? I've been watching you since the moment you first walked into this building...they warned me about you."

"Who warned you about me?"

"It doesn't matter who. Besides, even if they hadn't, your permanent record speaks for itself." She double-clicked on the mouse and sat up straight so she could read.

"You've got a very impressive rap sheet. You've been suspended for fighting-eleven times in the last year, written-up for cursing at three teachers-somehow I don't find that surprising, arrested for blowing toilet… seats… off…?" She stopped and stared at me.

"I found sodium nitrate in an unlocked cabinet in the chemistry lab…the only reason I'm not in an alternative school is because my dad has some big shot from the department of education in his back pocket." I looked down at my shoes when I said that, she probably assumed that I was ashamed of myself or something, but if I had anyone to be ashamed of, it was my dad. Telling her about how he pulled stings to keep me in public school only reminded me how much of a liar he was.

"-testing you."

"What?"

"I _said_ I was testing you. You couldn't have possibly thought I was going to go through the entire student database."

"Oh."

"Even though the technology is new, computers are still as slow as they were twenty years ago. This school is so big that it would have taken me hours to look through all the files.

"I know… that was the plan."

"…you know what they say about the best laid plans…"

"Do me a favor and skip the lecture. How long am I in for?"

She laughed. "Consider this your first and last warning: stay out of trouble."

"That's it?"

"Yes, that's it. Don't get me wrong, you're cute and all, but I don't want to see you in my office anymore. I'm giving you a fresh start; try not to mess it up."

"Uhh...thank…you."

"No problem," she grinned. "Get back to class."

I grinned and raised an eyebrow. "So you're into younger men huh?"

Her jaw clenched. My face broke into a full blown smile.

"I guarantee we'll be seeing each other again miss…I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."

"…Chapman."

"Miss Chapman." I blew her a kiss and backed out the door.


	4. The Stalker

Chapter Four

**The Stalker**

_Man where did that come from?_

While one part of me was screaming in horror at the thought of the principal finding me attractive, another part was ecstatic. The things I said, the look on her face…priceless! Yes, I _did_ earn my reputation as 'the infamous bad boy': I'd gotten in trouble for fighting, had a few _heated discussions_ with teachers, and despite my dislike for the subject, I do know enough about chemistry to maintain a C average but I have never been a smooth talker; especially not in front of authority figures. Usually my dad handled all of that.

I was too happy to care that being pleased with myself would mean being the tiniest bit grateful to be related to him. I smiled and gave myself a mental pat on the back.

* * *

Of course I had no intention of going back to class; it was pointless to even attempt to learn French. Being the 'wonderful' man that he is, my father had somehow fixed it so I was in French two-never mind the fact that I failed French one. I had gone to class for the first week, but Ms. (fill in last name that I can't remember here) could've been trying to teach me Chinese and I wouldn't have known the difference. 

Instead I decided to take a stroll up to the roof so I could kill some time until sixth period. Then maybe I would go down to the third floor and see if there was anything edible on the lunch menu.

The principal's office was on the first floor so I hiked up four flights of stairs and then walked through the main hallway towards the lower numbers until I reached the last set of stairs which lead to the biology labs. To the left of the bottom of the steps was a door. _Ahh, freedom…_ I pulled my student ID out of my back pocket. _You've gotta be kidding me…_ I reached in my pocket again and pulled out the other half. It was split diagonally. I banged my head against the door. "I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M STUCK IN THIS HELLHOLE ALL DAY!"

_"If you yell any louder Mr. McMillan will make sure you're stuck here everyday until five,"_ someone hissed. I raised my head turned around.

"Who…"

"He's teaches the advanced placement biology class."

"…that's nice…but I was going to ask who you were."

"Oh." She laughed and shifted her textbooks from her right hand to her left. "My name is Kayla…not that that tells you the first thing about who I am."

"Nice to meet you Kayla…I-I think I'll be leaving now." Something in her eyes startled me. It was almost as if she was turning me inside out. I readjusted the straps on my book bag and started to walk past her.

"You paid _way_ too much for that CD player; I mean people stopped using those ten years ago. You should invest in an MP3 player. It's much more efficient."

I stopped. "How…"

"I heard you yelling at the principal."

"Great, now I've got a stalker." I walked faster this time. This chick was weird.

"Wait! I can help you." She stepped in front of me.

"Help me do what?" I asked, clenching and unclenching my fists.

"Open the door…that is what you were trying to do isn't it?"

"Uhh…" I couldn't help but trust her. Those damn eyes. "Okay." She nodded and set her bag and books down.

"Try not to freak out" she said, after looking up and down the corridor.

"What are you talking ab-" Her eyes literally _popped_ out of her head and I backed up just in time keep the long tube-like thing that shot out of her face from hitting me. I tried to scream but all that came out was a whimpering noise.

Yeah, this girl was definitely weird.


	5. Untitled

A/N: words in between bold zeros are thought speech.

It was important to keep a very low profile. He hardly ever went outside of his apartment and when it was necessary to go out and get food, he went at night and wore a baseball cap and sweatshirt with the hood up to hide his face. He paid for everything in cash to avoid leaving a trail. During the day he slept. If he wasn't sleeping he watched TV (unfortunately there was only one channel that worked, and it only worked when the news was on). If he wasn't in bed or watching the local news, he was putting jigsaw puzzles and model airplanes together. Sometimes he did crosswords or read one of the dusty old textbooks that he found lying around to keep his mind from completely rotting away.

Right now he was working on the script. **The** script. _The _script. He was done writing, but being finished writing a script hardly means being _finished_-those were words of wisdom he'd picked up a long time ago. Transferring it from the napkins, tissues, and pizza boxes onto loose leaf was tedious, but he couldn't help but grin as he massaged the cramp out of his hand and looked over at the stack of paper to his right. _Revision without a computer will be more painful than this._

Chapter Five

**Untitled**

...I wanted to run, but instead, was forced to watch prickly hairs sprout from smooth skin. The bulging balloons that used to be eyes split into fragments; parts were shifting in awkward ways-all this while the _creature_ was shrinking. My body remained pressed against cold metal with the door handle digging into my back, but the pain was nothing compared to the agony of having to listen to that _sound_. Crunch. Snap. Squish. When it stopped, when there was silence and stillness, I allowed myself to take a breath; I wished that it was physically possible for me to look away. A second and a half later, I would have just as easily gouged my eyeballs out as turned my head:

Crooked legs exploded from the monster's abdomen. My shoes came unglued from the floor.

"HUUAHHH-" I could've pushed past it, but I couldn't bring myself to touch that…_thing_. "-AHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

A human hand clamped over my mouth.

"Shh!"

"hmhmhmm."

"Shh…it's okay, look at me." _I am, and it's really, really, really, not okay! I am looking at…_soft, roasted-coffee-bean skin. Large brown eyes. Full lips. Human. Girl.

I pulled away slowly. "Are you alright?" Large brown eyes. Concerned.

"Uhh…"

A laugh. A nice laugh; like a song. "Okay, let me try this again. Don't scream this time."

Large brown eyes glittered when they split, like tiny mirrors catching the light. Gossamer wings sprouted and spread from her back, and now the shrinking was faster, sparing me the sight of the more grotesque transformations. Human…girl…Kayla…was a fly.0

**0**Hey, don't swat me, okay?**0 **A voice. Her voice. Not a sound, but her voice. In my head. Girl. Fly. Soundless voice. I'm crazy.

The fly buzzed around my head, and then, zipped under the door. More crunching; the lock clicked. The door opened and she stepped out. _Human. Girl. Kayla. Girl._ This time I saw more than just her face:

Not skinny; sort of thick, not fat; looked good in a form-fitting leotard. Maybe…no, wait. There was no getting past the fly thing.

"Excuse me." She reached for her clothes and shoes that had fallen to the floor...Still, she had helped me out; had trusted me for whatever reason. She couldn't be all that bad.

"Kayla," I said.

"Yes?"

"How the _hell_ did you do that?"


End file.
